Preformatted emergency text message

ABSTRACT

A wireless communications device and method for generating and communicating an emergency text message includes in response to receiving a request to communicate an emergency text message, accessing stored personal data for use in generating content of the emergency text message. A determination may be made if current location coordinates are available. The emergency text message may be populated with the accessed stored personal data and current location coordinates, if available. The populated emergency text message may be communicated over a communications network.

PRIORITY

This Application claims priority to Provisional Patent Application Ser.No. 61/078,123, entitled: Emergency 911 Text Messaging Services, wasfiled on Jul. 3, 2008; the entire teachings of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

When emergencies occur or other help is needed, people will reach out toemergency services, such as 911, for assistance. Traditionally, in orderto request emergency services, a person places a telephone call to 911or another emergency telephone number. As cellular and Internet-basedphones rival traditional telephones connected to the Public SwitchedTelephone Network (PSTN) in popularity, emergency call centers arereceiving calls from an increasing variety of sources. Because differentsources for requesting emergency services may have differentcapabilities, there is a need for emergency call centers to be able tomove beyond ordinary PSTN telephone capabilities. For example, textmessaging, e-mail, and various other features have become more common oncellular telephones.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to provide an emergency call center, such as a 911 PublicSafety Answering Point (PSAP), with complete information in the event atext message or other similar emergency communication is sent to thePSAP, a preformatted emergency text message may be generated on awireless communications device and communicated via a communicationsnetwork. An appropriate emergency call center may be determined on thecommunications network and the generated preformatted emergency textmessage may be communicated to the appropriate PSAP.

One embodiment of a method for generating an emergency text messageincludes, in response to receiving a request to communicate an emergencytext message, accessing stored personal data for use in generatingcontent of the emergency text message. A determination may be made as towhether current location coordinates are available. If available, theemergency text message may be populated with the accessed storedpersonal data and the current location coordinates. The populatedemergency text message may be communicated over a communications networkto a public safety answering point.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Illustrative embodiments of the present invention are described indetail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, which areincorporated by reference herein and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of one embodiment of an environment forgenerating and communicating a preformatted emergency text message;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of one embodiment of a wireless communicationsdevice configured to communicate a preformatted emergency text message;

FIG. 3 is a screen shot of one embodiment of a display screen on awireless communications device;

FIG. 4 is a screen shot of one embodiment of a display screen on awireless communications device;

FIG. 5 is an illustration of one embodiment of components of a wirelesscommunications device configured to communicate a preformatted emergencytext message according to principles of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of one embodiment for inputting a fast trackaddress according to principles of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for inputting acurrent address location according to principles of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for communicating anemergency text message to a PSAP according to principles of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for communicating anemergency text message to a PSAP according to principles of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is an illustration of one embodiment of an environment 100 forgenerating and communicating a preformatted or un-preformatted emergencytext message. A user 102 using a wireless communications device 104 maycommunicate an emergency text message 106 over a communications network108 via an emergency message router 110 to one of multiple public safetyanswering point (PSAP) 112 a-112 n (collectively 112). The wirelesscommunications device 104 may be a cellular phone, mobile phone,multi-mode phone, text messenger, personal digital assistant (PDA),wireless game device, or any other communications device configured tocommunicate an emergency text message 106 or other data messages overthe communications network 108. An emergency text message 106 mayinclude a text message, a short message service (SMS) message, amulti-media messaging service (MMS), an email, instant message, photomessages, video messages or any other type of text message in which thecommunications network 108 is configured to communicate. It should beunderstood that the wireless communications device 104 may similarly beconfigured to communicate other data messages, such as emails,photographs, videos, instant messages, and the like. The communicationsnetwork 108 may be a cellular network, such as GSM or CDMA, theInternet, WiMAX, or any other communications network configured tocommunicate with the PSAP 112. The PSAPs 112 may interact with thecommunications network 108 to retrieve additional information to helpfacilitate emergency services.

In one embodiment, the wireless communications device 104 communicatesthe emergency text message 106 over the wireless communications network108 to emergency message router 110. The emergency message router 110may be in communication with the communications network 108 and beconfigured to receive and distribute emergency text messages, such asemergency text message 106. Some data that the emergency message router110 may use to route emergency text messages to the appropriate PSAPincludes current user location information, such as a cell site ID code(CCID), also referred to as cell site coordinates, global positioningsystem (GPS) coordinates, or other available information in theemergency text message 106. Along with information stored in theemergency message router 110, as well as available on remote sources,the emergency message router 110 may then choose the most appropriatePSAP for message delivery. Given that there are many thousands of PSAPs,selection of the most appropriate or closest PSAP to the currentlocation of the user who sent the emergency text message can be helpfulto emergency personnel.

As not all wireless communications devices are configured to generatepreformatted emergency data messages, a user may generate andcommunicate a freeform emergency data message (e.g., text message,e-mail, instant message, image message) to a network address, such asInternet domain name “911.911,” for routing to a PSAP local to the user.A freeform emergency data message is any data message that is addressedand communicated to a network address for routing to a PSAP local to theuser

The PSAPs have a wide variety of capabilities depending upon theequipment and level of sophistication of the PSAP 112. For instance,some of the PSAPs 112 may have limited capabilities and be capable ofreceiving address information, call back number, and a person's name towhich the calling phone number is registered. Other, more sophisticatedPSAPs 112, may have the ability to receive GPS location coordinates, aswell as other more detailed information. The emergency message router110 may have knowledge of the capabilities of each of the PSAPs 112 anduse this knowledge, in addition to distance or other locationinformation, to determine the most appropriate PSAP for the message.Having an emergency message router 110 allows for a stored emergencynetwork address, such as “911.911”, to be used as a generic address,rather than individual users 102 having to input a specific PSAP addresseach time their location changes. Without the emergency message router110, an emergency text message 106 may be delivered to a PSAP whicheither does not have the capability of receiving text messages or maynot be the closest PSAP to the user 102. Within the PSAP may be one ormore terminals having a PSAP display screen 114 for displaying theemergency text message 106. Any known or related information to the userwho sent the emergency text message 106 may also be displayed on thePSAP display screen 114 upon receipt.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of one embodiment of a wireless communicationsdevice 200 configured to communicate an emergency text message. Thewireless communications device 200 may include a display screen 202 forcommunicating visual data, such as text, to a user. In this embodiment,the display screen 202 depicts a number of fields used in populating apreformatted emergency text message. A recipient field 204 may include ageneric emergency message router address, such as “911.911”, asdescribed previously in FIG. 1. By default, the recipient field 204 mayautomatically be populated with the generic emergency message routeraddress.

A message text field 206 may also be pre-populated with a defaultmessage, such as, “need emergency/911 help.” In an alternativeembodiment, the message text field may be entered manually and edited bythe user. Alternatively, the message text field may be selected from alist of pre-defined emergency messages. A name field 208 may also beincluded for indicating the name of the person associated with awireless communications device 200 that is communicating the emergencytext message. In an alternative embodiment, the name field 208 may alsobe edited by the user replacing any default name in the field. A callback number field 210 may provide a PSAP with a number for contactingthe user for more information regarding an emergency. The call backnumber 210 may not necessarily be a number directly associated with thewireless communication device 200, but rather may be a number associatedwith an emergency contact, such as a family member or friend. Forexample, some wireless communications devices 200 may have textcapability, but not voice capability. Therefore, an attempt to call thewireless communication device may not work. Providing the call backnumber 210 belonging to a friend or family member may allow a person atthe PSAP to obtain additional information that could prove helpful.

A current location field 212 may be populated by the user prior tocommunicating the emergency text message. Alternatively, the currentlocation field 212 may be blank if the user chooses or does not havetime to populate the current location field 212. While the currentlocation field 212 may be useful in providing the PSAP with locationinformation, it may not always be possible to have the current locationfield 212 updated or entered prior to sending the emergency textmessage. Because the current location field 212 may be blank, apermanent address field 214 may also be provided to send the PSAP. Thepermanent address may be the user's home or office, where additionalinformation may likely be found. Even if the wireless communicationsdevice 200 is not located at the permanent address found in thepermanent address field 212, having a permanent contact address mayprove to be useful in the event an investigation or other informationneeds to be obtained at a later time.

GPS coordinate fields 216 may also be included to provide GPScoordinates to the PSAP if the wireless communications device 200 is GPSenabled. If the wireless communications device 200 is GPS enabled,latitude and longitude coordinates may be included in the emergency textmessage and communicated within the emergency text message to providespecific location information for locating the user with the wirelesscommunications device 200. Frequently, GPS coordinate information willnot be available because of location or environmental factors, such asbeing in a basement or a thickly walled building. Therefore, GPScoordinate information may not be available, even if the wirelesscommunications device 200 is GPS enabled. Additionally, GPS coordinatesmay be requested from the communications network, as is described belowin reference to FIG. 8. When the fields are populated, either by theuser or automatically by the wireless communications device 200, a sendbutton 218 may be activated to communicate the emergency text message.The fields may be pre-populated during a setup procedure, with theexception of GPS coordinate field 216, thereby allowing a user in anemergency situation to communicate the message without taking the timeto input new information. Because the GPS coordinates are expected tovary over time, the GPS coordinates, if available, may be automaticallyinserted by the wireless communications device 200 at the time of theemergency.

FIG. 3 is a screen shot of one embodiment of a display screen 300 on awireless communications device. On the display screen 300, a user may beprompted to enter information into the current location field asdescribed in FIG. 2. The current address input field 302 may bepopulated using a touch screen or keypad as available on the wirelesscommunications device. The current address input field 302 may bealtered at any time by the user. The current address of the userprovides the PSAP with more specific information regarding the exactlocation of the wireless communications device. Upon completion of theaddress into the current address input field 302, a user may submit theinformation by selecting the submit button 304. In one embodiment, inorder to avoid an incorrect current address or location information frombeing sent to the PSAP, the wireless communications device may beconfigured to clear the current location field when it is determinedthat the user has moved beyond a set distance, such as 50 feet. Forexample, if a user's CCID code or GPS coordinates have changed, the userwould not want the current address field to incorrectly display locationinformation in the event of an emergency. The wireless communicationsdevice may be configured to recognize the change and automatically clearout the current location field. In one embodiment, previous addressesmay be stored and selectable by the user to make entering the addressfaster and easier.

FIG. 4 is a screen shot of an embodiment of a display screen 400 on awireless communications device. On the display screen 400, a user may beprompted to enter an address for the permanent address input field 402.The permanent address input field 402 may be the default address for usein the event that a current address is unavailable at the time anemergency text message is being sent by the user. The permanent addressinput field 402 may be associated with an emergency contact or may bethe billing address associated with the wireless communications device.While the permanent address input field 402 may be updated at any time,generally, the permanent address field does not change as frequently asthe current address field. In addition to user input, the permanentaddress input field may be populated based on billing data availableover the network or another available data source. Upon population ofthe permanent address input field, the user may submit the informationby selecting a submit button 404.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of one embodiment of components 500 of awireless communications device 501 configured to communicate apreformatted emergency text message according to principles of thepresent invention. The wireless communications device 501 may alsoinclude a processor 502 for processing the preformatted emergency textmessage. The processor 502 may execute software 504 capable ofperforming the functionality of the wireless communications device 501.The wireless communications device 501 may also include an input/output(I/O) unit 506 for communicating emergency text messages as well asproviding for the traditional functionalities of the wirelesscommunication device 501, as commonly known in the art. The I/O unit 506may additionally include a transceiver (not shown) for transmitting anemergency message to a PSAP or remote location and for receiving andsending communications as commonly performed by a wirelesscommunications device 501.

A memory 508 may also be located within the wireless communicationsdevice 501 for storing data being processed by the processor 502, aswell as user data (not shown) for use in generating a preformattedemergency text message 509. The memory 508 may be RAM, FLASH, or anyother memory configured to operate in the wireless communication device501. In addition to data being processed and the user data, the memory508 may also store menu information 510 used in displaying menus forguiding a user of the wireless communications device 501 throughcreation of an emergency text message. Templates 511 that definestructure of text messages that are used to report different types ofemergencies may also be stored in the memory 508. Depending onselections made by the user using the menus 510, a particular one of thetemplates 511 may be selected for use in generating an emergency textmessage. Having different emergency text message templates 511 allowsdifferent information to be included or not included depending on theparticular type of emergency selected by the user via the menus 510. Forexample, a fire emergency away from a user's home may not include theuser's home address as would a medical emergency occurring at the user'shome.

A display 512 for viewing data from the wireless communications device501 may also be provided. The display 512 may also allow for a user toview an emergency text message that has been generated, edit themessage, read replies, and perform many other functions of a display512.

A GPS device 514 may also be provided within the wireless communicationsdevice 501. The GPS device 514 may be an electronic component or someother hardware, either integrated into the wireless communicationsdevice or in communication with the wireless communications device 501,which provides GPS enablement to the wireless communications device 501.GPS enablement allows for the wireless communications device 501 to beable to generate current GPS coordinates, which may be used within theemergency text message.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart which is one embodiment of a method 600 forinputting a fast track address according to the principles of thepresent invention, where a fast track address may be considered thepermanent address associated with a wireless communications device thatenables a user to be quickly tracked by emergency personnel, asdescribed previously. At step 602, a determination is made as to whethera fast track address has been stored. If a fast track address has beenstored, the process ends. If there is no fast track address stored, instep 604, a user is prompted to enter a fast track address using thekeypad or any other available input means on the wireless communicationsdevice. The fast track address entered may be any address that the userwould like to associate with the wireless communications device. In step606, the entered fast track address for use in the emergency textmessage may be stored. Upon initiating the communication of an emergencytext message, there will be, at a minimum, a fast track addressavailable for communication to the PSAP. Ideally, current locationinformation would also be communicated. However, current locationinformation may not always be available. The described process may occurat any time and is not limited to an initial setup. For example, a userwishing to update a fast track address may also have that option.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart which is one embodiment of a method 700 forinputting a current address location according to principles of thepresent invention. At step 702, a wireless communications device mayreceive a request to submit a current address representing where theuser is currently located. The request may be generated in response toan input (e.g., menu selection) by the user or the request may beautomatically generated by the wireless communications device in theevent that the wireless communications device recognizes a change incurrent location. In step 704, a user is prompted to enter the currentaddress location. The current address location may be a street address,a landmark address, or any other similar address where emergencyservices may be able to locate the user. In step 706, a current addresslocation for use in emergency text messages may be stored by thewireless communications device. As described previously, if a currentaddress location is not entered by the user, this field may remainblank, thereby potentially reducing the usefulness of the emergency textmessage for users at the PSAP. However, having the current addresslocation blanked after it is determined that the wireless communicationsdevice has moved removes the likelihood that incorrect locationinformation would be stored or otherwise communicated to emergencyservices.

FIG. 8 is one embodiment of a flow chart 800 for communicating anemergency text message to a PSAP according to principles of the presentinvention. In step 802, a wireless communications device receives anemergency text message request from a user. The emergency text messagerequest may be initiated by a hard-button, a soft-button, or any othernumber of methods for initiating the request. In step 804, the wirelesscommunications device may access the stored address data, name data, andmessage data that is available for populating an emergency text message.The stored data may be located within a wireless communications deviceitself, but may also be located remotely. Storing the data locally,however, insures that whether or not a communications link is presentlyavailable to a remote location including the data, the information willbe available.

In step 806, a determination is made as to whether GPS coordinate datais available. If the wireless communications device is GPS enabled andthe GPS coordinates are available, then at step 808, an emergency textmessage is populated with the GPS coordinates. The emergency textmessage is also populated with the stored information. In step 809, theemergency text message is sent to emergency services, such as a PSAP viaa network router configured to identify and route the emergency messageto a PSAP local to the user.

If the GPS coordinate data was not available in step 806, in step 810 arequest may be made for coordinates that may be available from thenetwork. Triangulation or another commonly known method may be used bythe network to determine GPS coordinate data. In step 812, adetermination is made as to whether the current GPS coordinates areavailable within a predetermined time window. The predetermined timewindow may be anytime from a fraction of a second to multiple secondsand should provide sufficient time for coordinates to be made availablefrom the network. If the current GPS coordinates are available withinthe predetermined time window from step 812, the emergency text messagemay be populated and then sent to emergency services complete with GPScoordinate data as described previously in steps 808 and 809. If thecurrent GPS coordinates were not available within the predetermined timewindow, the emergency text message may be sent without GPS coordinatedata in step 809. In step 814, a determination is made as to whether theGPS coordinate data was sent. If the GPS coordinate data was sent, theprocess ends. If the current GPS coordinates data were not sent, asecond time window may be granted. In step 816, it may be determinedwhether GPS coordinates were available within the second time window. Ifthe GPS coordinates data were available within the predetermined secondtime window, the emergency text message may be populated with thecurrent GPS coordinates and sent to emergency services as described insteps 808 and 809. If the GPS coordinates were not available within thesecond time window, the process ends.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart 900 of one embodiment for communicating anemergency text message to a PSAP according to principles of the presentinvention. In step 902, in response to receiving a request tocommunicate an emergency text message, stored personal data may beaccessed for use in generating content of the emergency text message.Stored personal data may include names, addresses, phone numbers, andany other relevant information. In step 904, a determination is made asto whether current location coordinates are available. Current locationcoordinates may be provided by a GPS enabled wireless communicationsdevice or any available network in which the wireless communicationsdevice is in communication. The emergency text message may be populatedin step 906 with the accessed stored personal data and current locationcoordinates, if available. In step 908, the populated emergency textmessage may be communicated over a communications network.

Although the principles of the present have primarily been describedwith regard to wireless communications devices, it should be understoodthat wired communications devices, including wired/wireless computers,may be adapted to include emergency messaging, as described herein. Oneor more buttons or other initiation devices may be provided on the wiredcommunications devices to generate and communicate an emergency datamessage to a network location for routing to a PSAP local to the user.In adapting the wired communications devices, software may be includedin the devices to generate and communicate an emergency data message(e.g., text message or email) using a communications protocol that iscapable of being communicated over the communications network (e.g.,public switched telephone network, cable network, Internet), asunderstood in the art. Information specific to the user, location of theuser, or otherwise may be included in the emergency data message. Forexample, name, address, number of people in residence, photograph,medical conditions, or any other information may be pre-established forretrieval and inclusion in the emergency data message, thereby providinginformation to an operator at a PSAP to provide emergency personnel,such as police, firemen, or medical personnel.

The previous detailed description is of a small number of embodimentsfor implementing the invention and is not intended to be limiting inscope. One of skill in this art will immediately envisage the methodsand variations used to implement this invention in other areas thanthose described in detail. The following claims set forth a number ofthe embodiments of the invention disclosed with greater particularity.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent ofthe United States is:
 1. A method for generating an emergency textmessage, the method comprising: receiving, at a wireless communicationdevice, a request to communicate an emergency text message and aselection of a type of emergency text message; in response to receivingthe request to communicate an emergency text message, accessing, withthe wireless communication device, stored personal data for use ingenerating content of the emergency text message; further in response toreceiving the request to communicate an emergency text message,determining, with the wireless communication device, that currentlocation coordinates are not available within a time period; in responseto determining that the current location coordinates are not availablewithin the time period, populating, with the wireless communicationdevice, the emergency text message with information associated with theselection of the type of emergency text message and the accessed storedpersonal data; communicating, with the wireless communication device,the populated emergency text message over a communications network as afirst emergency text message; and further in response to determiningthat the current location coordinates are not available within the timeperiod, requesting, with the wireless communication device, currentlocation coordinates; in response to receiving the current locationcoordinates, populating, with the wireless communication device, asecond emergency text message with the current location coordinates; andcommunicating, with the wireless communication device, the secondemergency text message over the communications network.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein: determining that the current locationcoordinates are not available includes determining that GPS coordinatesare not locally available.
 3. The method according to claim 2, furthercomprising: requesting current location coordinates from thecommunications network; and populating the second emergency text messagewith the current network location coordinates if received from thecommunication network.
 4. The method according to claim 3, whereinrequesting current location coordinates includes requesting cell sitecoordinates.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein accessing thepersonal data includes accessing a name and fast track address, ifavailable.
 6. The method according to claim 5, further comprisingaccessing the current address, if available.
 7. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising accessing a stored emergency networkaddress.
 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein communicating theemergency text message includes communicating the emergency text messageto the emergency network address capable of processing the emergencytext message for display to emergency service personnel.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the emergency text message is preformattedand the personal data are positioned in one or more preformatted datafields.
 10. A wireless communications device, comprising: a memorystoring personal data of a user; an input/output (I/O) unit configuredto communicate with a communications network; a user interface; and aprocessing unit in communication with said memory, I/O unit, and userinterface, and configured to: receive a request to communicate anemergency text message and a selection of a type of emergency textmessage; in response to receiving the request to communicate anemergency text message by a user interacting with the user interface,access the stored personal data in said memory; further in response toreceiving the request to communicate an emergency text message,determine that current location coordinates are not available within atime period; in response to determining that the current locationcoordinates are not available within the time period, populate theemergency text message with information associated with the selection ofthe type of emergency text message and the accessed stored personaldata; communicate the populated emergency text message over acommunications network as a first emergency text message; and further inresponse to determining that the current location coordinates are notavailable within the time period, request current location coordinates;in response to receiving the current location coordinates, populate asecond emergency text message with the current location coordinates; andcommunicate the second emergency text message over the communicationsnetwork.
 11. The wireless communication device according to claim 10,wherein said processing unit, in determining that the current locationcoordinates are not available, is configured to: determine that GPScoordinates are not locally available.
 12. The wireless communicationdevice according to claim 1, wherein said processing unit is furtherconfigured to: request current location coordinates from thecommunications network; populate the second emergency text message withthe current network location coordinates if received from thecommunication network.
 13. The wireless communications device accordingto claim 12, wherein the processing unit, in requesting current locationcoordinates, is further configured to request cell site coordinates. 14.The wireless communications device according to claim 10, wherein theprocessing unit, in accessing the personal data, is configured to accessa name and fast track address, if available.
 15. The wirelesscommunications device according to claim 14, further configured toaccess the current address, if available.
 16. The wirelesscommunications device according to claim 10, further configured toaccess a stored emergency network address.
 17. The wirelesscommunications device according to claim 16, wherein the wirelesscommunications device, in communicating the emergency text message, isconfigured to communicate the emergency text message to the emergencynetwork address capable of processing the emergency text message fordisplay to emergency service personnel.
 18. The wireless communicationdevice according to claim 10, further configured to: access an emergencytext message template; and wherein the emergency text message isformatted based on the emergency text message template and the personaldata are positioned in one or more preformatted data fields.